Audio transcription

For more interviews and talks, visit the Harvard Film Archive Visiting Artists Collection page.

David Pendleton  0:00 

[INITIAL AUDIO MISSING] and somebody who's been a major help and inspiration for putting this series together. I want to express our thanks, and ask you to give a round of applause to the daughter of Burt Lancaster, Joanna Lancaster.

[APPLAUSE]

Joanna Lancaster  0:19 

First of all, I want to say I'm really glad to see that there are some young people here. Because growing up, this was our favorite movie, when we were children. This and Flame and the Arrow were the two movies of my dad's that were certainly the most accessible and the most fun for us to watch. And one of the reasons is that he co-stars in this film with his good childhood friend and circus partner, Nick Cravat. And Nick Cravat—who is Ojo in this movie—is his silent companion in all his acrobatics and derring-do, his first mate, as it were, in this movie. And, you know, Nicky was indeed his dear friend from his teen years on. I think they actually became good friends shortly after my dad's mother died. And Nicky's mother, who was a very wonderful, cultured, Sicilian woman, took a great interest in Dad, in this motherless child, and taught him to love opera, and good Italian cooking, and all those things that became later very important in his life. So I think the other reason, of course, that we love this is—besides the fact that Nicky is in it—it's just that it's really a lot of fun to see my dad having such a good time, and really being able to exploit his physical talents. He always did keep a rope in his office at the studio and climb it regularly. And he does a lot of that in this movie. So, I hope you enjoy it. I think it's a lot of fun. And I think you'll see—I kind of see the cliche of my father with the grin and all that?—I think it starts here. [LAUGHS] So please enjoy it. Have a good time.

[APPLAUSE]

©Harvard Film Archive

Joined with former circus sidekick and lifelong friend Nick Cravat, Burt Lancaster’s acrobatic past is in full swing in this rambunctious Technicolor spectacle at sea. Playing the lovable pirate with a loyal crew of bandits, the god-like Lancaster confidently, mischievously basks in the physical presence that made audiences so smitten. As Vallo, he easily overtakes the King’s ships, yet an island of oppressed rebels with more lofty goals and an intelligent beauty at the helm complicate his gold-driven navigation. During the hunt in Hollywood for any hint of a crimson-taint, the film’s merrily disguised political jabs fused with the defiant power of the newly independent producer/star – presenting a provocation to both the FBI and the Hollywood studio system. The handsome swashbuckler was successfully luring audiences while making new rules for outdated regimes.